Nation's No. 1 prospect, who visited Syracuse women's basketball, might be deciding soon

Five-star point guard Kaleena Smith, the nation's No. 1 overall prospect in the 2027 class who has visited Syracuse women's basketball, might be making her college decision soon.

That's according to a post on X from the account World Exposure Report Women’s Basketball on Tuesday afternoon. The post included a graphic of five teams that the 5-foot-6 Smith has officially visited. Those schools are Louisville, LSU, Notre Dame, Syracuse and Tennesee.

The post said that her official college decision is coming soon, adding "Louisville has a strong lead on this but the Lady Vols (Tennessee) and Notre Dame are starting to make a hard push."

Syracuse women's basketball faces intense competition for 2027 five-star PG Kaleena Smith.

The Orange staff, under head coach Felisha Legette-Jack, has recruited Smith for a while now, first offering her a scholarship in July of last year. This past February, Smith took an official visit to the Hill.

Earlier this month, word came out that Smith had inked a name, image and likeness ("NIL") deal with ESPN "for a new content and merchandise initiative celebrating the intersection of high school sports culture, fashion, and an emergent sector of sports fandom."

Smith is a standout at the juggernaut Ontario Christian School in Ontario, Calif., near Los Angeles, which went 34-2 overall in the 2025-26 stanza and was named the MaxPreps national champion.

This past April, MaxPreps anointed Smith as its 2025-26 national player of the year. As a junior, she averaged 31.5 points, 6.9 assists, 4.5 steals and 3.7 rebounds per game.

Smith is the unanimous No. 1 national player in the 2027 class, according to the primary recruiting Web sites. In November of 2024, she became the first high school women's basketball player to ink an NIL agreement with Adidas.

Earlier this month, Smith helped lead the USA Basketball junior national team to a 5-0 record and the gold medal at the 2026 FIBA U18 Women's AmeriCup in Irapuato, Mexico. She was named to the All-Star Five at the tournament's conclusion after Smith averaged 24.1 minutes, 19.8 points, 6.4 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.4 steals per encounter while connecting on 46.9 percent from the field, 47.6 percent from beyond the arc and 82.6 percent from the free-throw line.

Candidly, I don't know where the Orange resides in Smith's recruitment, but if the 'Cuse were somehow able to land her, it would likely be the program's biggest recruiting win ever.

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